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With the promotion of wind farms in Kansas, and more specifically in Marion and McPherson counties, it deserves some serious investigation. The hype needs to be sorted out.

Where did this all begin? It began in 1992 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, a product of the Earth Summit United Nations conference on Environment and Development. It was labeled “Agenda 21,” a reference to the 21st century. It has been affirmed at subsequent UN conferences and its aim was to achieve global sustainable development goals. The 17 SDGs included #7 and #13 related to purported affordable clean energy, and climate action. On the surface, the goals may sound noble, however specifically to renewable energy it has been debunked by “ClimateGate” in November 2009 and other studies as to the misrepresentation of data to support their agenda.

Fast forward to the politics of the matter worldwide. Supposed green energy has been heavily subsidized by governments, especially early on in Europe. However, reality has at least partially set in there, and growth in onshore wind in 2018 fell by more than half in Germany and collapsed in the United Kingdom. Twelve countries in the European Union failed to install a single wind turbine last year. This was due in a large part to a decrease in state aid. During 2006 to 2016, electricity prices have increased in Germany by 51 percent, over 100 percent in Denmark since 1995. So, if renewable energy is so much cheaper, then why did the price of electricity dramatically increase, instead of decline?

It appears a young German economist, Leon Hirth, may have the answer in a 2013 paper “Energy Policy.” The reason? Renewable energy’s fundamentally unreliable nature. Both solar and wind sources produce too much energy when societies don’t need it, and not enough when they do. Electricity is thought of as a commodity when it is in fact a service — like eating at a restaurant. The price of a service like eating out, and electricity, reflect the cost not only of a few ingredients, but also preparation and delivery.